Word Wall Pocket Charts

As elementary school teachers, we all know the importance of having a Word Wall in the classroom. It is most useful for children during writing time, when they use it as a resource to spell high-frequency words. Although the purpose of a Word Wall is all the same, how to set it up in a classroom varies from one teacher to another.

I have seen teachers use tape to put up words on a wall/window/board, and I have seen teachers use velcro or magnets.  This all works well, but this summer I discovered a new way of setting up a Word Wall - using pocket charts!

These small pocket charts cost $1 at Target (find it at the dollar section). Unlike taping/velcro-ing/magnet-ing, this way is simple and affordable. Taping words is too much hassle (and you ran out of tape rather quickly); velcros and magnets are expensive, not to mention visually unappealing.  With pockets charts, you can just slide in the pre-laminated and pre-made words  without a hassle! Plus, it looks colorful if you alternate colors.

Mailbox Clip System

Today marks the 43rd day of school and by now you know how much paperwork we need to deal with as teachers  - from handouts to newsletters to notices to everything in between. But rather than having to stuff paper into the children's folders every day, a lot of teachers use the mailbox system. You just place whatever that needs to go home in each child's "mailbox" (slot), and at the end of the day, you tell children to pick up their mail before going home. This system works well because you don't have to spend all of your prep time inserting paper into the kids' folders - this can be done even after the kids go home. Or you can have a helper do this for you.

Lakeshore sells these tabletop organizers for $25 each - not so cheap but, in my opinion, so worth the investment.  I've had one of these (bottom right) for over 4 years and it's still pretty sturdy.

The second idea I wanted to share today is using the binder clips to label the slots. Since there is really no space to write the kids' names, I use numbers on binder clips to identify to whom the slots belong to. You would be surprised how quickly children pick up on this, even the first graders.

Hope these ideas help you stay organized as a teacher!

Clustering and Color-Coding Charts

One of the most important lessons I teach my students is to be resourceful human beings. "Don't just sit there when you are stuck...look around the room!" (Of course, my language with the kids is more positive - something along the lines of "Use the charts to help you!")

Early in the year, I teach students where to look around the room when they need help. As you can see in the pictures, I like to cluster the charts by subject (writing, reading, math).  This way, they know exactly where to look when they need to refresh their memories on a skill or strategy that was previously taught. As a rule of thumb, I have no more than three charts per subject.  No more than three because I don't want to overwhelm them.

You would be amazed at how many children actually utilize the charts throughout the day.  How much more would they use the charts if they are clustered and color-coded? When I see a child pointing to a chart, telling his or her partner, "look! We can add feelings and dialogue to our stories to spice up our writing!" that is my proudest teacher moment.  Talk about building independent learners!

BEFORE and AFTER revealed

With the new school year underway, I present to you some BEFORE and AFTER pictures of my classroom. Being a teacher in a new school means: hours and hours of cleaning, sorting, organizing, wiping, sweeping, dusting, and more! But of course, with the help of loved ones. Thanks to the special three who helped me with classroom set-up!

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That's all for now. In the next few entries, I will share some anchor charts from the first week of school. Until then, teach on, fellow teachers!

Color-coding Keeps You Organized

This is my basement where I keep all my teacher stuff. I like to color-code things as much as I can to make it easier for me to locate things when I need them. For example: the white bins on the right are all supplies that I have collected over the years, including pencils, crayons, post-its, etc., the green bins on the top shelf are books sorted by children's authors, the blue bins are sorted by series, and the yellow bins are sorted by genre.

I will let the picture do the rest of the talking - but let me say this - one thing that has really helped me stay organized, both at home and in the classroom, is color-coding things! You should try it too!